Portland Public Schools could soon ban screens entirely for its youngest students and sharply limit how long everyone else spends staring at laptops during the school day. A draft policy presented to the district's school board policy committee on Tuesday would eliminate screen use during class time for kindergarten through second grade, while restricting grades 3 through 8 to centralized spaces like computer labs rather than everyday classroom use.
The proposal, detailed by Willamette Week, would cap daily screen time at 20 minutes for elementary students, 45 minutes per subject each week for middle schoolers, and one hour per subject weekly for high schoolers. As KATU reported, the Portland Public Schools school board discussed the measure this week as part of a broader effort to reduce screen time and set new rules for digital devices, with parents and school leaders agreeing that technology use among students has grown significantly since the pandemic.
The draft measure was drawn up by Schools Beyond Screens Portland, the local chapter of a national advocacy group that has also proposed a five-year moratorium on student-facing generative artificial intelligence in classrooms once the district's current AI pause expires. That AI restriction, outlined by the group in a policy document posted to Schools Beyond Screens, was based on the FairPlay.org model moratorium.
Parents Push Back on Video-Heavy Classrooms
The Portland chapter was co-founded by local PPS parents Miranda Rake and Dr. Holly Hofkamp, who surveyed local families and found widespread concern over video usage in class alongside a desire for more paper-based instruction, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Parent feedback collected by the group indicated that technology was often used as a behavioral reward rather than a genuine instructional tool, the station reported.
KATU's coverage of the board discussion quoted Stephanie Engelsman saying screens have become ever-present since “COVID hit in 2019.” Portland Public Schools implemented a cell phone ban during the school day in 2025, with many schools using Yondr pouches to store students' phones, per KATU's reporting. That earlier phone-specific rule came after Governor Tina Kotek issued an executive order requiring all Oregon schools to have a cellphone ban policy in place by January 1, a mandate that state education records show 99% of Oregon districts had complied with, as Hoodline previously reported. The order addressed personal-device policies, while the new proposal would set screen limits for multiple device types.
Early Results From Portland's Phone Ban
The district has already seen some ripple effects from cutting personal devices out of the school day. At Grant High School, librarian Paige Battle reported a 14.5% increase in student book checkouts and more teachers scheduling library visits following the phone restrictions, according to Hoodline's earlier reporting.
Portland Public Schools plans to take up the broader screen-use proposal again next month, with the school board's work plan indicating it could develop its screen time and artificial intelligence policies by December, per Willamette Week. The board also backed an AI-software pause in June.
Part of a Bigger National Shift
Portland's debate mirrors a fast-moving national movement. In April, the Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation's second-largest school system — pursued screen limits, and in June the board approved a policy banning classroom screens in preschool through first grade and capping elementary screen time at 20 minutes daily for second and third grades and 30 minutes daily for fourth and fifth grades, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Teacher sentiment nationally appears to back the trend. A September Gallup poll found that 73% of U.S. public school teachers support setting maximum limits on student screen time, with 61% saying students already spend too much classroom time on digital devices, according to Fingerlakes1.com. The same survey found that 96% of K-12 teachers report their students use learning devices in class.
A decade of rapid classroom device growth is reflected in Federal Communications Commission data from June, which showed more than half of U.S. eighth-graders now use computers in all or nearly all classes, up from 30% in 2019, with 90% of middle schools and 88% of high schools running 1-to-1 device programs.
For now, the Portland proposal remains in draft form, with the school board's policy committee expected to continue its review next month ahead of the December target for finalized rules.
